Russia in Global Affairs

Russia and China have a truly unique role in the international arena, which makes their relations a huge and very complex topic. Neither country accepts subordination to anyone or to each other. China is unable to be a junior partner, and the same goes for Russia. Fyodor Lukyanov sat down with RIAC to describe the future of Russia–China engagement in the emerging world order.

On May 16-17, freshly re-inaugurated, Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first state visit to China. With all sides having passed their points of no return, where is history heading? Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs, gave an interview to Oksana Boyko, Worlds Apart.

On November, 1, 2021, the Center for the National Interest hosted an online discussion, titled “Can the United States Discourage Sino-Russian Alignment?”, featuring, among others, Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs.

Developing the Russian Far East and Siberia has been an important step in state-building for Russia. Although there have been debates about appropriate ideas and policies in the strategy, developing the vast frontier region and promoting relations with Asian countries has set a steadfast direction of development for Russia. Chinese-Russian cooperation in the border region during the early stages of imperial Russia’s policies in the Far East holds enlightening significance for today’s bilateral cooperation.

The implementation of the “Belt and Road” initiative became dependent on the pro et contra balance that is not conducive to cooperation for the time being. “Gains and prospects” are abstract, while “risks and threats,” on the contrary, are quite concrete and cannot be ignored.

The year 2019 is a year of landmark anniversaries: a centenary of the Versailles-Washington world order; the 90th anniversary of the Great Depression, which reverberated throughout the 20th century; the 80th anniversary of World War II; the 70th anniversary of the nuclear parity and NATO, the start of the Cold War confrontation; the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran; the 30th anniversary of changes in Eastern Europe; and the 20th anniversary of NATO’s war against Yugoslavia.

Chinese geoeconomics is making a great leap forward to adjust to rapid technological developments and a changing international distribution of power. The world is entering a new industrial revolution that further decouples the relationship between capital and labour, which incentivises Beijing to abandon its reliance on low-wage competitiveness and instead take the lead in developing high-tech strategic industries with its digital Silk Road.

The reasons for Russia’s turn to the East obviously lie in geopolitics?it was unable to establish a fruitful interaction with the West. China also failed to develop equal relations with Western countries. That is why many Russia’s decisions about the Far East were taken without proper calculations regarding the chances for economic development and investment attractiveness.

“Russia and China need to think about creating a joint strategy to strengthen peace. There is no need to wait for someone’s attack – the threat of war in the air,” Valdai Club expert Sergei Karaganov, who takes part in the Russian-Chinese conference in Shanghai.